FAQs

If your client does not have a telephone or email that we may use to contact them and you are willing to help schedule a meeting for them please fill out the online referral form and include your contact info.

Most referrals are contacted the following business day. All referrals should expect to be contacted within 5 days of the online submission.

Please email Henrietta Thompson. Include their name, date of referral, and contact information.

We only charge a fee if your client asks us to become their legal representative for their disability case and they are awarded retroactive benefits. We have other ways of serving your client where we do not charge a fee. We can help your client set up an appointment to apply on their own and they also may have an opportunity to attend a free help desk that we have 1-2 times a month.

There can be many reasons why we did not sign up to become the legal representative of a referral for their Social Security case. We may need to wait and see if their condition continues in its severity, we may need time to overcome the implications drug or alcohol use have on the case, or we may think that they have the ability to apply on their own (which we can assist with). Just because we do not sign up to legally represent your client at the initial meeting does not mean that we might not do so further in the process.

The process of obtaining benefits can be a long one. The initial decision when they first apply can take average of 4-6 months. If they are denied at this stage and appeal the decision it can take another 4-8 months for the decision on their appeal. If that is denied we can request a hearing before an administrative law judge. Scheduling for those hearings is currently running about 12-24 months from the request date. These are estimates based on averages. The process may be much longer or shorter depending on the file.

If your client already has representation it is best to talk to that firm about their claim. Often people are frustrated with the waiting times but we do not have a way to speed those up and it can be a client’s best interest to stay with the representative that has already developed their case. If they are truly unhappy we will speak with them.

People are often denied despite having a severe impairment. We’d certainly like to talk to your client if they have already been denied by the SSA. Time is of the essence in some circumstances around appeals. If your client has received a denial please email Henrietta Thompson after filling out the online referral form.

As a medical provider there are many ways that you can help your client’s claim for benefits. Including information about the way that a client’s impairments affect their functioning in their medical records can be very helpful. You could also help by filling out a Medical Source Statement or an Interrogatory with detailed information about their impairments. You should be able to get these forms from their representative. We can also assist with these forms.